Nikki Haley: World leaders laughed at Trump because they love his honesty

"Didn't expect that reaction." UN General Assembly members laughed while President Donald Trump delivered his address.
USA TODAY

United States ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Myanmar at UN Headquarters in New York on August 28, 2018. (Photo by DOMINICK REUTER / AFP)(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Trump began his speech to the UN on Monday by saying his administration "has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country."

When the comment drew laughter from the crowd of diplomats, Trump said: "I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay."

Haley said on Fox News that the press was wrong to portray the laughter as disrespectful to the president.

"They loved how honest he is," Haley said on the Fox and Friends show. "It’s not diplomatic and they find it funny."

She said diplomats were "falling over themselves" to get a picture with Trump and tell him "how great his speech was."

"They love that he’s honest with them and they’ve never seen anything like it, so there’s respect there," she said. "I saw that the media was trying to make it something disrespectful. That’s not what it was. They love to be with him."

Trump seemed to be taken aback by the laughter at the time, but he later told reporters that he was trying to get a laugh with his opening lines.

"Oh it was great, well, that was meant to get some laughter, so it was great," he said.